Sheila Ellison
Page 17
Pet store: Kids can spend hours in a pet store watching the fish, lizards, rats, hamsters, birds, cats, and other pets. Let the older sibling tell the younger one what she knows about the creatures they see. When your toddler asks questions, ask the big sister if she knows the answer.
Construction site: After watching workers and their machines, your kids can come home and play in the sand with their own dump trucks, shovels, and cranes.
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Camping In
Let your kids plan a sleepover in one another’s bedroom or in the family room. Bring sleeping bags and maybe even a small tent if there’s room. Make popcorn. Sit in a circle and tell stories before bed, or ask the kids to put on a puppet or dance show together. And don’t forget the all-important flashlights!
* Words of Wisdom *
I’ve created one specific job that each sibling is responsible for that’s related to helping another sibling (tying shoes, reading a story, helping Mom and Dad with the baby’s bath, etc.). It promotes cooperation and kindness—and it helps us!
—Allen, Center Point, Iowa
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Preparing for a New Baby
When Mommy’s tummy starts to obviously show, let your toddler feel the baby moving and kicking, but don’t force him to be interested.
Have him help you decorate the nursery.
Talk about what will happen when you actually have the baby and how it will be for him. “Grandma will take you to preschool and then bring you to the hospital,” etc.
Help him select a present for the baby when she comes, and be sure to tuck one away for him!
Bring him to the hospital as soon after the birth as possible and let him meet the new baby and pass out favors to visitors.
Let him be the dedicated new-baby gift opener.
Involve him whenever possible (if he’s interested—don’t push it) in newborn care (baths, diaper changes, stroller-pushing). Buy him a baby of his own so he can do exactly what you are doing with his own baby.
Be sure to devote some big-boy time for just you and him.
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Random Kindness
Keep a random kindness jar for each child. Have each child decorate her jar with stickers, paint, markers, and glitter. Any time you catch the kids in a random act of kindness, reward them with a decorative sticker. Write what they did on a construction paper heart and put it into the jar. At the end of the day or week at a special time, read the kind acts each child offered. You’ll love seeing your kids become conscious of their actions towards one another.
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Sibling Theme Days
Brothers and sisters become friends and learn to enjoy each other when they share fun experiences.
Backward day: Wear clothes backwards, eat meals backwards, do what you do at night in the morning, have a backwards walking race, etc.
Color day: Everyone wears clothes the designated color. Food, drink, and bath water all match that day’s color. Food coloring can transform foods like scrambled eggs, milk, mashed potatoes, and pasta.
Wild hair day: This is the day where the curlers, hairspray, hair gel, and wacky barrettes come out. Ask your older child to help make your toddler’s hair wacky. Parents can participate in this event; just don’t plan to leave the house!
Pajama day: Everyone wears pajamas all day.
Sing please day: Every question or request has to be sung.
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Potpourri Shapes
Materials
Large heart- or other-shaped cookie cutter
Wax paper
Large bowl
Colorful potpourri (small pieces like lavender work best)
White school glue Twine, string, or ribbon
Drizzle the glue into the potpourri, mixing until the potpourri is well coated and the mixture is about the consistency of Rice Krispy Treats. Set the cookie cutter on top of the wax paper and fill it halfway with the potpourri mixture. Fold the twine into a loop and lay the two ends of the loop on top of the mixture, making sure to leave the loop end sticking out. Continue filling the cookie cutter with potpourri mixture. Pack the mixture tightly before slowly lifting off the cookie cutter. Let dry fully. Wash the bowl and cookie cutter immediately with warm, soapy water.
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Bag Skits
Materials
Large paper bags
Various household items for props
This is a fun group activity for siblings. Ask someone who is not playing to put eight to ten props into the large paper bag—things like a dustpan, underwear, wig, rag, toy, or anything else you can find. Once the bag is full, give it to the kids and ask them to make up a skit using all the props in the bag. The props do not have to be used according to what they are. For example, underwear can become a hat, the dust pan might be a sled, and the rag a baby. Sit and watch the silly things your kids come up with.
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Special Parent Day
Why wait until Mother’s or Father’s Day to express appreciation? Once a month, help your children work together to lavish a parent with treats such as breakfast in bed, a homemade card, a clean car, or something else that parent might appreciate. Take turns being the chosen parent! Help your children to plan the day’s activities with the parent in mind. This will foster cooperation and a sense of joy in giving, as well as give your children something to work on together.
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Kitchen Table Landscape
Materials
Vegetables
Clean blue plastic place mats
Here’s a sure way to get all your kids to eat their vegetables. Cut peppers, cauliflower (clouds), broccoli (trees), carrots (house), radishes, and herbs into various-sized pieces, making sure that one side is flat. Put the vegetables in the middle of the table within reach of all children. Give each child his or her own place mat. Let the older sibling show the younger how to make a design on his own place mat, helping if needed. Once the designs are complete, make sure to praise each child’s effort before suggesting that the feasting begin. Bring out a variety of dips: ranch dressing or a mix of half peanut butter and half yogurt are favorites. Make sure to get a picture of both siblings with their creations.
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Silly Manners
Teaching kids to have good manners is easy with a sense of humor. Here are a few ideas to get your children saying their pleases and thank-yous, helping and complimenting each other:
Speed please: Whenever your kids say please to you, do that task with exaggerated speed and silliness. If they forget to say please, stand in place until they remember.
Play that scene again: When your kids are mean to each other, simply say, “Take two,” and then ask them to repeat what they’ve just done being kind or helpful to each other. The kids will get so tired of doing it over that they’ll begin to think about the action before they do it.
Meditation minute: When the kids begin arguing over a toy or some other item, call for a meditation minute. Both the kids have to sit on the floor, not talk to each other, put the toy aside, and take ten audible breaths.
Grandparenting
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Food for Thought
It’s funny how parents just don’t seem to feed kids things they like, but at Grandma and Grandpa’s house the food is great! To enhance this experience, instead of shopping before the grandkids arrive, wait until they’re with you. Plan the menu together, then go to the store and pick out a few things. Let each child pick out a box of cereal to be their own and write their name on the box with a thick marker. Even with foods you’re sure they liked on the last visit, Mom might have changed the brand, or the kids may have moved on to a new favorite. So, at the very least, make sure to inquire beforehand what food to purchase. It’s not fun to be stuck with a lot of food that the kids won’t eat!
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Your Pace
For some grandparents, it’s the calm and lack of rushing that come with age and retirement that will attract your grandchildren to you. You wil
l be a retreat from their otherwise hectic lives. For other grandparents, it’s the cool, fast-paced, savvy lives you lead that will make you hip in the eyes of your grandkids. Be who you are—your grandkids will appreciate it. Also, take time to focus on what you have that parents don’t—pets, garden, etc. If you have a special hobby—like painting, car collecting, or cooking—allow your grandchildren to share your joy. That will make time with you all the more special and memorable.
* Words of Wisdom *
I used to catch a cold every time my grandkids came to visit until I showed them how to cough and sneeze into their elbows or shoulders to lessen the spread of germs by hand.
—Nancy, Laredo, Texas
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Establish a Play Area
If grandchildren will be spending time at your house, there are a few things you can do that will make visits more fun for everyone.
Start a separate cabinet where craft supplies are stored. It should contain crayons, paper, play dough, finger paint, old boxes, wrapping paper scraps, scissors, a glue stick, old magazines, old socks, and felt.
Start a dress-up box. As you do your yearly closet-cleaning, save the old jackets, dresses, high-heeled shoes, jewelry, hats, and ties. Consider cutting the dress bottoms and coat arms to a reasonable length.
Try to clean an area and designate it as a play area. Even a small area will do. This way there will be no excuse for having toys all over the house! Buy a cheap wall mirror and hang it up in this area, then watch the children find a million uses for it.
For inexpensive and instant room decoration the children will love, take a few photos of the kids and blow them up to poster size. Then, buy cheap plastic poster frames and hang them in the room where the children sleep.
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Special Books
Do you remember any of the books that were read to you as a child? Do you remember the special books you read to your children? Start reading those books to your grandchildren. Tell them how you used to read them to their mom or dad. Tell them little things you remember, like how their dad loved this character or was afraid of that one, or that their mother started dressing her stuffed animals just like the heroine. You may want to record yourself reading these stories along with your grandchildren’s questions and responses to the stories you tell so the tapes can be played when you are not with them!
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Stay in Touch
Color connection: Buy a coloring book together on the next visit. Then mail your grandchild a page from the coloring book every week. Toddlers love getting mail and will eagerly color in the picture to send it back to you.
Be there when you can: If you live nearby (or if not but you have vacation time available) go to an event for your grandkids (maybe instead of their parents). Take them to a toddler gym class or attend a preschool function. Your grandchild will love showing you around and showing you off.
Keep up on your grandchild’s life: Watch one of their favorite shows on TV, then call them that day to talk about it.
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Craft Projects
Make leis: Make a backyard barbecue more festive with Hawaiian leis. Flatten various-colored paper muffin cups and cut different petal shapes into them; you can even glue construction paper circles on for flower centers and leaves. Use a hole punch to make holes, and string them in small groups onto yarn, a shoelace, or string. Use dried pasta spacers in between the bunches.
Pet rocks: Go rock hunting and gather large and small rocks. If you’d like to hot glue them together, you can make animal bodies or just paint the flat rocks. Paint faces on them—don’t forget hair, teeth, moustaches, and beards! Make sure Grandma and Grandpa make pets of their own.
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Share Memories
Memories are the basics of family history. Help your grandchild build a concept of the past by sharing your memories of his parents as well as of your childhood.
Share photos—and stories about the photos—of your grandkids’ parents and yourselves as kids.
Bring out the old awards, yearbooks, and autograph books from school. Talk about the memories they trigger.
Talk about how you met your spouse, and what your child (their parent) looked and acted like when they were small (and how it compares to your grandkids).
Share recipes. Cook your favorite recipes together. As you make them, talk about how your parents and grandparents made them with you.
Encourage them to learn about their heritage. Teach them to count in the language of your ancestry, and show them where the family is from on a world map.
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Start a Notebook
Grandparents see their grandchild differently than parents see him. While parents are busy with the job of disciplining and worrying if he is going to turn out morally sound, grandparents are enjoying every little thing. Start a notebook of remembrances and thoughts about your grandchild: how he is being raised, what you see him learning, the daily things he does while he’s visiting you, favorite toys, funny sayings, or anything else that strikes your fancy. Make copies of the pages you write and give them to the parents. Your appreciation will shine through and perhaps shed new light on their child. This will be a treasured gift one day.
* Words of Wisdom *
All I have to do to keep my grandkids entertained in the car is to bring a big colorful stopwatch. They love to compete and time themselves or guess how long it is going to take to get somewhere.
—Elizabeth, Hudson, Wisconsin
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Do the Unexpected
When the kids are with you, do something spontaneous and fun. But don’t ever tell them it’s a secret or to not tell their parents about it—that can be confusing for children of this age. Here are some ideas:
Hide treats around the house during the visit—under a pillow, in folded socks, or anywhere. They will find the treats unexpectedly.
Have snack baggies with fun treats waiting in the backseat for car rides.
Show up to breakfast with temporary tattoos (available at drug and beauty supply stores) on your arms—and then give the kids coordinating ones.
Make crazy hats. Start with plain hats (inexpensive ones can be bought at party stores—straw hats, top hats, etc.) and decorate together by gluing on feathers, boas, handkerchiefs, rope, etc. If you’re really daring, wear them on errands or to the park!
Host a kids’ movie marathon one morning in your pajamas.
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Spoiling
Spoiling your grandkids is half the fun of graduating to the role of grandparent. Just remember a few things:
Don’t overshadow parent gifts—you don’t want the parents or Santa to feel like they can’t compete with you.
You may want to ask before giving something meaningful like a first doll, cradle, or first tricycle. The parents may be planning to give that themselves at a special time.
Consider buying toys to keep at your house, especially the bigger things like tricycles, blocks, or a playhouse.
Don’t go overboard, especially when the kids are young and happy with almost anything you would give them. Something as small as a spinning top, a coloring book, or a pack of play dough will do.
Think about opening a savings account or buying stock in something representative of your grandkids like a toy company.
Give baby-sitting coupons. This will be a parent’s favorite gift!
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Family Totem Pole
This is a fun way to create something that represents each person as well as the family as a whole. Use varioussized cylinders or boxes, oatmeal containers, or other things that will stack on top of each other to resemble a totem pole. If you can, use a different shape for each family member. Give one to each child along with some magazines, old cards, family photos, glue, crayons, pens, paints, and construction paper. Help them to decorate the boxes and cylinders with things that represent who they are, including words that describe them, pictures doing things they like to do, as well as family pictur
es. When everyone is finished, erect the totem pole by firmly taping the sections together, one atop the other. If it’s top-heavy, place a rock inside the bottom box to prevent the totem pole from toppling over.
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Childproofing Grandma’s House
Having the grandkids visit can be a challenge if you are unprepared. Make sure to have one child gate, ten electric outlet plugs, a roll of thick masking tape, rubber bands, and padded corner guards. Before the arrival of the grandkids:
Go through the house and take any cleaning supplies or poisonous products and put them out of reach.
Scan the kitchen for appliances with cords within reach, move them to the back of counters, and masking tape the cords out of reach. Masking tape all cords around the house to the walls to make sure they are out of pulling reach.
Remove tablecloths so kids won’t pull any hot food or heavy items on top of themselves.
Tape a sign to the bathroom mirrors as a reminder to keep doors closed at all times.
Move beds and furniture away from the windows.
Clear bedside tables.